City Life Starter

1. The Word: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (ESV)

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Study Questions:

1. What does Paul say is of first importance?
2. What would you honestly say is first importance to you?
3. If you only had the Old Testament to testify of Christ could you lead someone to see see Jesus in the Scriptures?

It’s amazing to me to think that I’ve been a dad for more than 13 years now. Thinking back on all three of my children as toddlers, one of my favorite memories was being able to hear them say “Daddy” for the first time. Moving on from there to, “I love you daddy” or “Can I please have _______?” was equally as exciting. It wasn’t until having Jaxon, our third child, that I realized it is not only exciting, but vitally important, to be able to communicate clearly.

Our son Jaxon was slow to speak and really communicate at all. After taking him for tests and a long process of waiting for a diagnosis, we were told he has a high functioning form of autism. They assured us, that with help, he should be able to be taught how to communicate. Having a son that is not able to express hurt, love, or even preference has been such a struggle for us as parents. It is tiresome and frustrating on our end when he tries to express what he wants and cannot and is equally frustrating on his end when he is unable to do so, usually resulting in crying or a meltdown. It causes you to long for him to say, “I love you daddy!” or even, “I want milk!” (which he is just now starting to do at 5 years old). This quickly causes you to realize that communication is not just something that is joyful with your kids, but it is completely foundational.

Language is so interesting, especially thinking about how you teach a child to understand and speak. As they see and watch you communicate to them they start to pick up words and phrases and before long are expressing themselves to you. Most parents don’t have to think about this too much, it’s just somewhat natural as it should be.

Just as a parent helps their child form words and understand language through time and effort, we must also learn the language of God in a similar fashion. It’s no wonder many believers in Christ do not have a very deep relationship with God when the number one form of communication and language He speaks, His Word, we hardly ever give consistent effort towards.

Reading and studying the Scriptures for a believer is like learning language from our parents. The more we read and study His Word, the clearer communication with Him comes. If we are illiterate in the Scripture, I imagine God feels as frustrated with us as I can feel with Jaxon sometimes. The difference is that we are without excuse. We have His Word and plenty of resources at our finger tips to know Him, to speak His language and hear from this loving Father and yet we choose not to.

The ironic thing is we are left frustrated that we can’t hear Him and yet He is speaking loud and clear. There is no greater joy than communicating with the God of the universe and hearing/understanding His incredible love towards us as we remind ourselves daily of the gospel.

In the scripture above Paul told the Corinthian church to hold fast to the word he preached to them and then he goes on to tell us what that word was (vs.4-8). This gospel, which is of first importance, is what we must mediate on, not just for fifteen minutes in the morning, but continually as of first importance. Notice he didn’t just pull this message out of thin air, but he went to the Scriptures and eye-witnesses to see the confirmation of his message. As we go to the scripture constantly and consistently we too will see the gospel and allow it to develop our communication with the Lord in order to know Him and delight in Him more.

Consider this excerpt from the book The Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent:

“The gospel encourages me to rest in my righteous standing with God, a standing which Christ Himself has accomplished and always maintains for me. I never have to do a moment’s labor to gain or maintain my justified status before God! Freed from the burden of such a task, I now can put my energies into enjoying God, pursuing holiness, and ministering God’s amazing grace to others…’Sanctification’ is merely the lifelong process wherein I joyfully surrender myself to God’s imputed righteousness and then do whatever this righteousness directs me to do.

Likewise, the deeper I go into the gospel, the more I comprehend and confess aloud the depth of my sinfulness. Such an awareness of my sinfulness does not drag me down, but actually serves to lift me up by magnitude of God’s forgiveness of my sins, the more I love Him and delight to show Him love through heart-felt expressions of worship.”

A few Scriptures about Christ from the Old Testament:

Luke 24:25-27    

 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Genesis 3:15

15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”

Psalm 16:10 

10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.

Psalm 49:15 

15 But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;
he will surely take me to himself.

Psalm 34:20 

20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.

Psalm 22:16 

16 Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce[a] my hands and my feet.

Exodus 12:46 

46 “It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones.

Hosea 6:2  

2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.

Isaiah 7:14

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6-7

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.

Zechariah 9:9

The Coming of Zion’s King
9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Isaiah 53:3-12 

3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.